L'AQUILA, Italy. July 10 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia believes the resolution of a territorial dispute with Japan is possible based only on the 1956 Soviet-Japanese declaration, said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
"The Russian position is quite clear. We believe the only legal document that describes this situation and can be a basis for a settlement is the 1956 declaration. Dialogue should be based on this very document," Medvedev said at a press conference following a G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, on Friday.
He admitted that Tokyo and Moscow have so far failed to find a common language on some points.
"We have some positions on which we differ so far, but at the same time we are demonstrating the desire to continue discussing this issue," he said.
Under the 1956 declaration, the Soviet Union agreed to hand over two out of the four South Kuril Islands to Japan following the conclusion of a peace treaty between Moscow and Tokyo.
"The U.S.S.R., in response to the desires of Japan and taking into consideration the interest of the Japanese state, agrees to hand over to Japan the Habomai and the Shikotan Islands, provided that the actual changing over to Japan of these islands will be carried out after the conclusion of a peace treaty," says the declaration, as translated into English by The New York Times in its October 20, 1956 issue.